Realizing
by nobodD
Summary: After a sudden confession, Nico finds herself in a relationship with Maki. But, what is this feeling she has? What is she unsure of and why is it bugging here this much? NicoMaki one-shot. Nico's POV.


**Hey guys, nobodD here once again! Here's another one-shot, this time its NicoMaki. This is mostly Nico's POV. **

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Love Live!**

* * *

"So, what is it Maki-chan?"

Maki found Nico during lunch break and asked Nico to follow her. She didn't say why. So Nico patiently followed Maki. They ended up in the clubroom. Maki still faced away from Nico. She noticed that Maki seemed troubled by something. Finally, Maki turned to face Nico.

"Nico-chan, I love you! Please go out with me!"

Nico took a step back, stunned by Maki's sudden confession. She didn't know how to respond. She admits that she started to grow quite fond of her red-haired junior. But she never thought about her in _'that'_ way before. Since joining Muse, love was the last thing on Nico's mind. Now, though, she knew she had to make a decision. She needed to respond to Maki's feelings, and fast. She made up her mind.

"Yes, Maki-chan, I would love to go out with you."

The next day, Nico decided that they should let the others know. Maki was hesitant at first, but trusted Nico's decision. The rest of Muse's reaction was positive, and very reassuring for the two.

"You two are dating now? How exciting!" Honoka exclaimed.

"Right? Ahh you two will probably have so much fun!" Rin agreed.

"I think you two make a lovely couple," Kotori stated with a smile.

"Yeah. I hope everything will work out for you two," Hanayo said.

"Glad to see things worked out after all," Eri said.

"Mhm. Congratulations you two," Umi said.

Maki looked around at everyone and smiled. "Thank you, everyone." Maki was able to relax.

Nico smiled her thanks to everyone, too. She noticed that Nozomi didn't say anything right away. In the end she decided not to worry about it.

"If you two would like, we can keep this room empty so you can spend the lunch break with each other," Umi suggested.

"Thanks Umi-chan. That'd be helpful." Nico said in response.

"Alright, starting tomorrow then."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Muse proceeded to have its meeting like usual. At the end everyone began leaving. As Nico was getting up, Nozomi placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Nico looked up to Nozomi, and found she had a serious expression on. Maki reached the door and turned around, seeing Nico and Nozomi not moving. Nico saw and gestured for her to wait outside. Maki nodded and headed outside.

Nozomi waited till everyone was outside and the door was closed. Nico looked at her expectantly. Nozomi decided it was safe now, and turned to face Nico.

"Well firstly, congratulations on your new relationship," Nozomi began.

"T-thanks.." Nico said hesitantly. She was sure Nozomi had more to say. It was rare to see Nozomi this serious.

"Take care of her. She's going to need a lot of attention."

"..Huh?"

Nozomi held up a tarot card. "You're going to have a lot to deal with soon. Be careful how you handle things. Depending on what you do, you may also find the answer you've been looking for."

Nico looked away from Nozomi, taking in everything that was just said. She knew not to take Nozomi's fortune telling lightly. The predictions proved very useful for the group up until this point. She turned back to Nozomi.

"Anything else I should know?"

Nozomi shook her head. "That's all."

"Thanks, really."

"My pleasure. Now go, she's waiting."

Nico nodded and got up to leave. Nozomi waited for the door to close once more.

"..Good luck, both of you.."

Nozomi waited till she thought Nico and Maki should be far enough ahead of her. She grabbed her bag and finally left the clubroom.

Later that night, after finishing her chores and putting her sisters to bed, Nico collapsed onto the comfort of her own bed. She felt more tired than usual by this time of the day. While she didn't physically do anything extra, Nozomi had given her a lot to think about. Particularly the last thing she said.

_"You may also find the answer you've been looking for."_

Nico sighed. She didn't want to think about it this much already, but the question has been bothering her since yesterday. She turned to her bed-side table and picked up the picture frame that sat there. It was a picture of her and Maki, in their 'Kore Kara no Someday' outfits, back when Muse was only seven members. Nico latched onto Maki's arm with one arm, holding a "v" sign with her free hand. Maki did the same with her free hand. She smiled as she remembered that day. They both looked so happy in the picture. Neither of them knew that some time after that, they would be starting to date.

Nico placed the picture back where it belongs and crawled into bed and went to sleep.

* * *

A few days had passed since then without incident. Then..

"A- a date?"

Maki looked surprised at Nico, who took another bite from her bento. Nico swallowed before nodding.

"Yeah. It doesn't have to be something big or anything. We can just head into town or walk around the park or something. Is that fine?"

Maki thought about it for a minute. "Yeah, that should be fine. I'll just tell my parents I'll be home a bit late."

Nico nodded. "Then it's a date!" she said cheerfully before taking another bite. "This bento is really good, Maki-chan."

Maki had offered to make lunch for both of them on their way home yesterday. She blushed at the compliment.

"T-thanks."

Nico picked up an omelet with her chopsticks and held it up to Maki. "Here, you need to try some, too."

Maki turned a few shades redder, but happily let Nico feed her. She picked up from her bento and held it for Nico, "You too, Nico-chan."

Nico took the bite and smiled in appreciation. Their peaceful lunch continued like this.

The end of school came. Nico stopped by the first-year class Maki was in. She gave a quick wave to Hanayo and Rin, who was also there, before Maki joined her and they left school.

They went to the park first. Nico took hold of Maki's hand as they walked around and then on a path through the trees. After a while, they walked into town. They stopped by a cafe to share a meal, feeding each other until they were done. They spent most of the time afterwards browsing the different shops, trying on clothes or accessories.

As the day was coming to a close, Nico led Maki down the streets. There was one last place left they needed to go to before they went home. As they entered the building, Maki looked around. There were pikapika booths spread around the room. Nico led them to an empty one and they took their pictures. They did various poses and faces. For the last one, Nico turned Maki to face her and gave her a kiss. Nico grabbed the two sets of prints as they got out of the booth and handed one to Maki. With their date complete, they left for home, hand in hand.

They stopped in front of Maki's house. Maki turned to Nico.

"Thanks for today, Nico-chan. It was really nice."

"Your welcome. I had a lot of fun today, too."

Nico stepped forward and they shared another kiss. Then Maki slowly let go of Nico's hand and headed for the door. She turned around at the door with a smile. "See you tomorrow!" She called before stepping inside.

Nico waved back and smiled, then headed for her own home. Once she got to her room, she placed the pictures on her bed-side table with the picture of her and Maki from before. She changed and crawled into bed. She thought about what Nozomi had said once more.

_'Am I doing the right thing? Can I honestly say it to her yet?'_ She thought to herself as she fell asleep.

* * *

The next day started like any other. The lunch break finally came around. Most of her class had left for lunch. Nico was getting up when one of her classmates approached her.

"Hey, Yazawa-san." She called out.

"Hey." Nico replied.

"Where are you off to in a hurry?"

"You know, to have lunch."

"With that first year? You two sure have been spending a lot of time together recently."

Nico looked a bit surprised. "R-really now?"

"Yeah, I see you walking around with her a lot. And you two always leave school together." Her classmate looked at her curiously. "Could it be, that you two are dating?"

_'Uh oh..'_ Nico thought. "W-well, you know..." Nico started looking around the room, not wanting to make eye contact.

"Yes...?"

"It's not exactly that... You must be-" She caught something that made her freeze.

She looked toward the door, and barely managed to catch someone running to avoid being seen. A certain someone with red hair.

"I must be..?" Her classmate asked.

"Uh... well..."

"Nico-chi!" Another voice called out.

The two of them turned to the door. Standing there was Nozomi.

"The Vice-president." Nico's classmate said.

"Nico-chi, I need to speak to you about something important really quickly, is that alright?"

"Ah, yes, coming." Nico went out into the hallway to meet Nozomi. They walked away from the classroom to avoid being overheard.

"Well that didn't look good. Didn't I tell you to be careful?"

"Well.. I-"

"Nico-chi, you need to decide right now."

"Decide?"

"Do you really love Maki-chan?" Nozomi saw Nico flinch. "Still unsure?"

"It's not tha-" Nico tried to start

"Not that easy?" Nozomi cut her off again. "Honestly, you should know by now. Think, do you?"

Nico looked away. She knew Nozomi was right. She needed to have figured this out by now.

"Here, maybe this will help you."

Nozomi placed something into Nico's hand. She looked, and was surprised. It was the pictures Maki and her took yesterday. Her set was at home, so this must have been Maki's. Nico thought about yesterday again. About how fun it was, and how nice it was. She remembered the picture in her room. She thought about all the time she spent with Maki since they started dating, and then since she joined Muse.

Nico realized her answer, what she needed to do. Nozomi saw Nico's expression change, and smiled. "Go, she won't just be waiting somewhere. You need to catch her."

Nico nodded. "Thanks, Nozomi-chan." She ran off to try and find Maki.

Nico's first thought was to check the clubroom. She got there, but opened the door to find the room empty. She stood there thinking. _'Where could she have gone?'_ Then it clicked. There's only one other place she knew for sure Maki would go that she could almost always find her. Nico started running.

She turned the corner to the music room and found Honoka there. She looked further, and saw that Honoka was grabbing Maki's arm. She made her way toward the two.

Honoka heard the footsteps and turned to look. "See? She came for you Maki-chan."

Maki stopped her struggling to turn and saw Nico. Honoka waited till Nico got up to them, then smiled to Nico. She let go of Maki and headed back the way Nico had come.

"Maki-chan, what's wrong?" Nico asked. It looked like Maki had been crying.

Maki wiped away her tears. "I...I heard what your classmate asked you."

"Oh..."

Maki nodded slowly, looking at the floor. "I didn't know how to react when you didn't answer. I... I was scared."

"I'm sorry." Nico said, before going up to Maki and giving her a kiss. "I'm sorry, Maki-chan. I'm sorry I hurt you. I wasn't sure how to act. I wasn't sure about a lot of things, of my feelings up until now. But I finally understand now." Nico smiled. "You know, I never gave you a proper response yet.. have I?"

Maki looked at Nico, confused. Nico looked into Maki's eyes, and took both of Maki's hands into hers.

"I love you, Maki-chan. I promise I won't hurt you anymore. I promise I'll be more honest with my feelings. I'll let the whole school know that you're my girlfriend if I have to. I'm sorry it took me so long to return your feelings. I'll make it up to you. Because I love you. I love you, Nishikino Maki."

"N- Nico-chan..." Maki couldn't control it anymore. She started crying again. Nico embraced Maki tightly.

"Hey, stop crying. I like it better when you're smiling."

Maki took a few minutes to calm down. Once she was calm enough, Nico wiped away one of the last tears.

"There, that's better."

"Thanks, Nico-chan. And I love you too, Nico-chan. Please stay by my side."

"I promise."

And she sealed that promise with a kiss.

* * *

[Meanwhile, around the corner...]

"Finally. There we go." Nozomi said with a satisfied smile.

"You know you could have been a little more straightforward with your advice." Honoka said retreating around the corner out of potential view from Nico and Maki.

"Aww, but where would the fun in that be?"

Honoka just smiled at Nozomi's response.

"Oh, by the way, I got you a replacement deck." Honoka pulled out a new set of tarot cards from her pocket.

"Thank you. A few weeks late but I'm glad you still got them in the end." Nozomi said, taking the deck and putting it into her pocket.

Honoka gave a guilty smile. "So, can I have that card back now?"

"You still want to hold onto it?"

"Of course. It's very important"

Nozomi smiled as she pulled her old card out and handed it to Honoka. Then they heard the bell ring.

"Aw... class."

"Mm, why don't we just head to the clubroom instead?" Nozomi suggested with a grin. She offered her arm to Honoka.

"That's not something the Student Council Vice President should be suggesting," Honoka replied. But she smiled and took Nozomi's arm as they walked down the hall toward the clubroom.

* * *

**Well, I hope you enjoyed!**

**The part at the end was mainly for fun. It's also meant to explain why Honoka appeared at the end, and why Nozomi was giving advice to Nico alone. Well, hopefully it makes sense. If not, well the main story ended at the last kiss :D**

**Anyway, see you next time!**


End file.
